With a catalogue of restaurants including sites in San Francisco, Istanbul, Singapore and Amsterdam, Supperclub has finally arrived in London. Its location in Notting Hill, previously home to Neighbourhood bar, is a rather strange choice for a club which counts Madonna as one of its regulars. Hidden behind a housing estate, under the West way it almost feels you’re the breaking law just by going there.
Once inside the club, itching with anticipation we ordered a bottle wine at the red concrete bar, which with no windows and very little light is rather dark. At 8:30pm on the dot the doors slid open to reveal a mass of white; white walls, white floors, white beds and white lights. After the darkness of the bar, the overwhelming whiteness from the room painfully startled the eyes.
Set over two floors the walls are lined with big white beds that have small white tables set in the middle. Once in the room we were shown to our “bed”. After removing our sandals, horrified by the sight of our dirty feet we quickly climbed into bed hoping no one would notice. We took comfort in knowing we weren’t the only ones as we watched the group next to us hurriedly rush to the ladies to wash their feet!
Lying back on the big white pillows, feet covered by cardigans, we waited patiently for the food, our stomach's grumbling at the thought of the "feast" described on the Supperclub’s website. We continued to wait, patiently, and after 30 minutes the starters were finally served. The starter, definitely quality over quantity, consisted of 3 pieces of Smoked Salmon Sushi minus the rice with splash of soy sauce. The salmon tasted great but was demolished within seconds and within minutes it had rudely awoken my appetite, which had earlier given up hope and gone to sleep.
Once the plates were cleared the banging dance music was turned up loud and the first act got under way. A girl dressed head to toe in lace, Lady Gaga would have been proud, took to the dance floor. Moving in a way to the music which I don’t think can be described as dancing, a waiter poured salt from above onto her head and into her face while a confused crowd looked on. I am not quite sure what the point of the act was; maybe it was a diversion to take our minds off the wait for the next course which coincidentally was another 30 minutes.
The main course consisted of a chicken breast, green bean salad, tomato salsa, mashed potato and a rich tomato sauce. The food was nice but again there wasn’t enough of it, the teaspoon of mash just didn’t cut it. This was food for people who don’t actually eat food. Every table seemed to feel the same, as quick as the meal was served the plates were empty.
After the main came the second act, this one more of a circus performer. Balanced on wooden poles the performer spun round and round with all of his weight resting on his hands. I have to admit although this really wasn’t my thing he was actually very impressive.
Two hours later just after 10:30 our dessert was served. A disappointing end to an overrated meal, the dessert was a brownie with a scoop of mango sorbet on top. To my surprise it was actually a normal sized brownie, albeit a little on the dry side, the mango sorbet doing nothing to complement its flavour.
I have to say I am not entirely sure what the Supperclub is trying to achieve but from the food, to the acts and the beds it feels like they are trying too hard. They call themselves a concept but everything too random and nothing seems to work. I haven’t tried any of the other Supperclubs so I am not sure how the London one compares but one thing’s for certain I won’t be returning. I think it safe to say lesson learned, don’t believe the hype!
G
